The Snowden Effect, Continued

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Alas, it seems the all-too-human, if oddly mistake-prone, heroes of our surveillance state have determined that it's time to look through keyholes, bribe hotel detectives, and sniff the bedsheets, cyberwarfare-wise. This should surprise approximately nobody.

The NSA document, dated Oct. 3, 2012, repeatedly refers to the power of charges of hypocrisy to undermine such a messenger. "A previous SIGINT" -- or signals intelligence, the interception of communications -- "assessment report on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent," the document argues. Among the vulnerabilities listed by the NSA that can be effectively exploited are "viewing sexually explicit material online" and "using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls."

Of course, if you're not spending eight hours a day looking at porn, you've got nothing to worry about.

Without discussing specific individuals, it should not be surprising that the US Government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence," Shawn Turner, director of public affairs for National Intelligence, told The Huffington Post in an email Tuesday.

And I am sure that such sweeps are so narrowly focused that nothing they pick up could be used for purposes other than keeping us safe in our beds -- like aiding local law-enforcement in porn investigations, say, or entertaining the lads at the NSA holiday parties.

Yet Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said these revelations give rise to serious concerns about abuse. "It's important to remember that the NSA's surveillance activities are anything but narrowly focused -- the agency is collecting massive amounts of sensitive information about virtually everyone," he said. "Wherever you are, the NSA's databases store information about your political views, your medical history, your intimate relationships and your activities online," he added. "The NSA says this personal information won't be abused, but these documents show that the NSA probably defines 'abuse' very narrowly."

Of course, if word of this gets around, it could lead to a revival of grindhouse cinemas all over the country. In which case, the NSA probably will plant some people in the audience as spies. After all, most of them already have their own trenchcoats.